THUNDER BAY – A popular winter fundraiser is changing its location due to unfavourable conditions in the city.
Sled for Eternity is an annual snowmobile ride and fundraiser for Adult & Teen Challenge Central Canada that is normally held on the trails surrounding Thunder Bay. But, due to a lack of snow this winter the ride was forced to relocate to Dryden where conditions are expected to be near perfect for the event.
“Instead of postponing, we're just moving it to Dryden. We're going to merge our two events together and the reason why is because of lack of snow this year,” said Cory Rettaler, development director of Northwestern Ontario for Adult & Teen Challenge Central Canada.
“The Thunder Bay Adventure Trail said we needed to get at least another 12 inches of snow for it to be a go here and we're definitely not at 12 inches yet."
The trails in Dryden currently meet the needs of the ride but require a few more inches to make sure conditions are optimal. Rettaler said he’s not too worried about weather slowing things down.
“According to the Power Toboggan Club in Dryden, the six inches we need is just to make the ride perfect,” he said. “The ride, I believe, will still go on regardless of the six inches of snow. But a contingency plan would be just a virtual event like we had during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Rettaler said the reason it’s so important to make sure the fundraiser goes on is because it helps make up for the early-year lull in donations.
“The first three months of the year for our charity is a very difficult time. This is our lowest donation point,” he said. “So, having a fundraiser like this helps to continue supporting people that are going through life changing process here in Thunder Bay as well as right across central Canada.”
The date has also been moved to Feb. 17.
If conditions support it, the ride is expected to return to Thunder Bay next year.
To find out more about Adult & Teen Challenge Central Canada, or the Sled for Eternity fundraiser, visit the organization’s website.
